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Plan helps you
divorce your car
by Kelly Daniel,
Austin
American-Statesman,
Monday, July 8, 2002
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Divorce rates aren't high enough in this country, some transit
advocates say.
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- One relationship is still too
lasting, still too committed to be healthy, they argue: drivers
and their cars.
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- As part of the national push to
get more people into comfortable walking shoes, a bus seat or some
other form of moving about, some transit groups are pushing
drivers to break up with their sport-utility vehicles, sedans,
sports cars or pickups.
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- Reducing the number of cars on
the road is a goal of Central Texas leaders and traffic planners,
as agencies, companies and commuters tout the benefits of such
things as telecommuting, van pools, car pools and
buses.
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- Austin drivers rank sixth in
the nation for the amount of miles they log on the road each day,
according to federal transportation statistics released this
year.
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- And the amount of time Central
Texas commuters waste in traffic jams has been well-covered in the
past weeks, ticking at 61 hours a year for each rush-hour
driver.
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- But all that can get a bit dull
to say over and over. And we all know sex sells and romance
captivates. So listen to how transit advocate and author Katie
Alvord approaches the topic in her 2000 book "Divorce Your Car:
Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile."
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- "Our romance with cars has
become a very troubled entanglement," the introduction says. "Our
relationship with automobiles requires intensive
therapy."
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- The book's chapters are titled
"Falling Head Over Wheels" and "This Isn't Love, This Is An
Addiction!" for starters.
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- But among all the florid talk
is a nifty little piece of advice for people who truly want to
stop driving so much.
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- Alvord's book recommends the
"circle game," a five-step plan that Austin bike advocate Michael
Bluejay has included in his on-line newsletters at http://
BicycleAustin.info over the years.
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- The game is designed to help
people plot out daily trips they now drive and turn them into
walks, bike rides or bus rides.
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- Paraphrasing how Alvord's book
describes it, the idea works like this: Get a map and compass, and
mark your house. Then draw a circle depicting a two-mile radius
from your home.
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- Next, mark places you routinely
visit. Obviously, mark where you work, but also include the video
store, the grocery store, your church, synagogue or mosque, the
live music clubs you favor and so on. Mark any place you visit at
least once every two weeks as well.
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- Now the easy part: Pick one of
the places you marked inside that two-mile radius. And the hard
part: Make a promise that you will walk, bike or take the bus to
this place every single time you go there, leaving the car parked.
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- Repeat that step periodically
to include each spot within that two-mile radius. Eventually, the
theory goes, you shouldn't drive to any spot within two miles of
home.
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- If you try it, let us know how
it goes.
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- Getting There appears
Mondays. For questions, tips or story ideas, contact Getting There
at (512) 912-5977 or commuters@statesman.com.
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